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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2018
Oregon’s high court to consider Group threatens lawsuit over
proposed gun-control measure habitat protection for orcas
Backers want
November vote
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
PORTLAND — A pro-
posed ballot measure that
would restrict ownership of
assault weapons and large-ca-
pacity magazines wound up
in the Oregon Supreme Court
after a gun rights proponent
petitioned for a review of the
ballot title, saying it was polit-
ically charged and deceptive.
The state’s high court
received the review one day
before the deadline, said Phil-
lip Lemman of the Oregon
Judicial Department. The
topic has become incendiary
amid a flood of school shoot-
ings, many of them carried
out with AR-15 semi-auto-
matic assault rifles.
Backers of the statewide
initiative told a news confer-
ence in a church in Portland
they are ready to launch a
statewide campaign to gather
enough signatures to put the
measure on the November
ballot as soon as the court fin-
ishes its deliberations.
“We want to move for-
ward and give Oregonians the
chance to vote,” said Pastor
Mark Knutson of the Augus-
tana Lutheran Church, one
of the three chief petitioners.
“We are ready. As an orga-
nization we are building tre-
guns; and magazines with
a capacity of more than 10
rounds.
Background checks would
also have to be conducted.
Weapons would have to be
disposed of if they’re not reg-
istered. The attorney gener-
al’s office on May 23 issued
its review, edit and approval
of the ballot initiative’s cap-
tion, statement and summary.
But Beyer had issues with it.
“A fair read of IP43 leaves
only one reasonable impres-
sion as to its major effect and
intended purpose, and that
is to criminalize the posses-
sion, purchase or transfer of
most semi-automatic firearms
and their magazines,” Beyer
wrote in his petition with the
Supreme Court.
In the press conference
in Knutson’s church, Knut-
son joined with a rabbi and
a Muslim imam to announce
that from June 29 through
July 1 a signature-gathering
campaign will be launched
at churches, synagogues and
mosques around the state —
if the Supreme Court has fin-
ished assessing the request
for review.
State law says the court’s
review “shall be conducted
expeditiously” so the signa-
tures can be collected.
The Supreme Court can
either approve the certified
ballot title as-is, rewrite it or
order the attorney general to
make changes.
mendous capacity through-
out the state to get the 88,000
signatures that are required in
the time that we are given, by
July 6.”
The campaigners are
counting on the participa-
tion of youth, who protested
across the nation to demand
stricter gun laws, to help
gather signatures, and on
places of worship.
In his request to the
Supreme Court for a review,
gun rights advocate Roger
Beyer said the ballot lan-
guage “uses the politically
charged and emotionally
laden words, ‘assault weap-
ons,’ and ‘large capacity
magazines.’ The description
is also misleading, argumen-
tative, and deceptive because
it implies the measure applies
only to a limited and bellig-
erent group of ‘assault weap-
ons’ gun owners.”
The proposed measure,
known as Initiative Petition
43, would go before vot-
ers in the November elec-
tion if enough verified sig-
natures are collected in time.
If on the ballot, a “yes” vote
would require registration
with the Oregon State Police
of “assault weapons,” defined
to include certain semi-auto-
matic rifles or pistols with a
detachable magazine; pistol
or rifles with a fixed maga-
zine holding more than 10
rounds of ammunition and
certain semi-automatic shot-
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
59
47
48
Mostly cloudy with a
little rain
60
49
Mostly cloudy with a
couple of t-showers
ALMANAC
Rather cloudy with a
couple of showers
First
Newport
47/55
Coos Bay
51/58
Brookings
47/55
July 6
Baker
51/57
John Day
48/54
Ontario
58/73
Bend
45/57
Medford
53/60
Burns
47/57
Klamath Falls
44/55
Lakeview
45/54
Ashland
52/59
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
UNDER THE SKY
REGIONAL CITIES
Tonight's Sky: Giovanni Cassini's birthday (1625).
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
4:43 a.m.
4:26 p.m.
Low
1.4 ft.
1.7 ft.
Hi
84
78
58
65
59
77
80
64
58
62
Today
Lo
51
45
48
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51
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53
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Sat.
Lo W
37 sh
34 sh
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Hi
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City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
62
84
67
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Today
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Sat.
Lo W
42
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TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi Lo
91 70
79 59
72 61
94 57
89 70
81 63
103 76
68 47
89 75
91 70
86 69
101 78
81 63
95 73
88 78
95 69
92 72
82 66
86 71
84 65
93 74
90 67
69 56
66 51
86 70
Prineville
46/59
Lebanon
51/59
W
pc
s
t
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t
pc
pc
c
pc
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t
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pc
pc
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pc
pc
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pc
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Sat.
Hi Lo
90 70
79 60
82 63
94 63
89 69
77 63
98 75
68 49
88 76
86 70
92 71
103 76
81 63
93 74
87 76
94 71
91 72
80 62
93 72
82 64
93 74
94 56
67 53
62 48
85 71
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Haystack Rock Awareness
Program program coordina-
tor Melissa Keyser has been
appointed by Gov. Kate Brown
to serve on the Oregon Ocean
Policy Advisory Council.
The council is a state-
wide marine policy advisory
body that advocates for envi-
ronmental conservation and
coastal community interests.
Keyser, who has led the Hay-
La Grande
50/55
Roseburg
51/60
Last
June 27
Pendleton
50/64
Salem
51/61
Eugene
47/58
Full
June 20
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Nice with some sun
SEATTLE — A conserva-
tion group wants the federal
government to move forward
with protecting offshore areas
along the West Coast to help
endangered killer whales.
The Center for Biologi-
cal Diversity told the National
Marine Fisheries Service on
Wednesday that it plans to
take legal action if the agency
keeps delaying a designation
for offshore habitat where the
Puget Sound orcas would be
protected.
The fish-eating whales typi-
cally spend summers in inland
waters of Washington state
and winters foraging along the
coast. They have struggled with
food shortages, pollution and
noise and disturbances from
boats. There are now just 76 of
the animals, a 30-year low.
Most inland waters of Wash-
ington state, including Puget
Sound and the waters around
the San Juan Islands, received
protection as critical whale hab-
itat in 2006. Coastal and off-
shore areas in the Pacific Ocean
weren’t included at that time.
In 2014, the conservation
group petitioned the fisheries
service to expand habitat pro-
tection. It asked the agency to
add an area from Cape Flattery,
Washington, to Point Reyes,
California, extending about 47
miles offshore.
Satellite tagging surveys
have shown that the whales for-
age for food along the coast in
the winter, some traveling down
to Northern California.
The fisheries service said in
2015 that it would move ahead
with revising the orcas’ critical
habitat and collecting and ana-
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
A conservation group says the federal government is fail-
ing to protect offshore areas along the West Coast to help
the endangered Puget Sound orcas.
lyzing more data to develop a
rule in 2017.
The group said in its letter
Wednesday that the agency is
violating U.S. law by not tak-
ing action in a reasonable time
to protect habitat for the popu-
lation of southern resident killer
whales.
“The southern residents des-
perately need protected forag-
ing areas full of salmon to feed
them through the winter,” Cath-
erine Kilduff, an attorney and
marine scientist at the Center
for Biological Diversity said in
a statement. “Without swift fed-
eral action, these whales will
continue their steep slide to
extinction.”
Michael Milstein, a spokes-
man for NOAA Fisheries, said
the agency is moving as quickly
as it can and that the work
remains a high priority.
He said the agency has
been gathering data, includ-
ing tracking the whales’ winter
movements and reviewing the
science.
“As much as we’d like to do
it fast, we have to take the time
to do it right,” Milstein added.
Meanwhile, a task force con-
vened by Washington state Gov.
Jay Inslee in March is coming
up with recommendations at
the regional, state and federal
level to save the whales. A final
report is due in November.
Keyser appointed to ocean council
The Dalles
55/68
Portland
54/62
Sunset tonight ........................... 9:05 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 5:24 a.m.
Moonrise today ........................... 2:46 a.m.
Moonset today ........................... 3:06 p.m.
High
6.4 ft.
8.4 ft.
70
52
Sun and some clouds
Tillamook
50/58
SUN AND MOON
Time
10:38 a.m.
10:47 p.m.
66
49
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
48/59
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... Trace
Month to date ................................... Trace
Normal month to date ....................... 0.72"
Year to date .................................... 33.14"
Normal year to date ........................ 34.08"
June 13
TUESDAY
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 63°/55°
Normal high/low ........................... 63°/49°
Record high ............................ 94° in 1903
Record low ............................. 40° in 1933
New
MONDAY
By PHUONG LE
Associated Press
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
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c
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stack Rock program in Cannon
Beach since 2015, heard about
the position while serving on
another advisory board about
preserving the state’s rocky
shorelines.
“I am happy to do my part
in raising awareness about
the vast issues that affect our
ocean,” Keyser said. “We all
have to be doing more. I didn’t
apply because I thought I was
better or more qualified than
anyone else. I wanted to make
more of an impact.”
Her role will be to represent
coastal communities when
the state looks at address-
ing environmental issues like
ocean acidification, environ-
mental education and plastic
pollution.
With her background as an
environmental educator, Key-
ser hopes to advocate for envi-
ronmental programs and solu-
tions that can balance the need
for conservation with provid-
ing recreational opportunities
in natural spaces.
Trails End Recovery fined over water pollution
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The
state Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality has fined
Trails End Recovery $23,104
for violating stormwater permit
requirements and causing pol-
lution to local waterways.
Trails End Recovery col-
lects and repurposes construc-
tion and landscaping debris
and other materials along
U.S. Highway 101 Business
near the Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park.
The company was fined for
discharging an oily sheen and
vehicle wash water into a trib-
utary of the Lewis and Clark
River; allowing compost to
overflow from containment
bins and spill into a roadside
ditch that flows to the tribu-
tary; exposing large, uncovered
stockpiles to stormwater run-
off; allowing soil to spill into
a wetland area; and failing to
conduct required site inspec-
tions to reveal potential prob-
lems and prevent pollution.
A state inspector identified
the violations after a complaint
about the facility and a site visit
in June 2017.
Adding soil, compost and
other solids to waterways is
considered pollution because
it alters the properties of the
water, can be harmful to aquatic
life and reduces the safety of
the water for public use.
Custom Excavating By
Dean Larson Inc. does busi-
ness as Trails End Recovery.
DEATH
June 7, 2018
OWEN, James W., 99, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
m
m
u
S
e
r
s
’
S
e
a
r
le!
m
i
G
SAVE $
UP TO
20
MONDAY
Youngs River Lewis & Clark Water District
Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Department Board,
6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset
Ave.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
LOTTERIES
OREGON
Thursday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 5-1-8-0
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10 p.m.: 5-9-6-1
Thursday’s Lucky Lines: 01-08-10-15-19-24-26-29
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Thursday’s Daily Game: 2-9-0
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Thursday’s Match 4: 02-07-12-24
ON FOOTWEAR*
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ON SOCKS, INSOLES AND BAGS
Sale ends June 16, 2018
Astoria: 239 14th St. • 503-325-3972
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